Building Errors in the Machine

Lend us an ear, all whom has one to hear, for a tale of woe that was the closing day's of America's once vibrant metal scene is upon ye. Though it may not have been a grand procession of swansongs in the tradition of a final stand comparable to the closing moments of the Battle Of Thermopylae or The Alamo, and occasionally involved a final whimper of a last plague victim succumbing to an Armageddon bug, there were some holdouts by the time the grunge virus had fully infected the public's consciousness. Among the final holdouts was the Chicago-based thrash metal outfit Cyclone Temple, admittedly a late entry into the early 90s scene if one discount's the band consisting largely of veterans of the prematurely defunct 80s thrash metal powerhouse Znowhite. Having witnessed their former label Combat Records be utterly obliterated in what could have been dubbed a hostile takeover and been deprived of their unique and charismatic front man Brian Troch, this up and coming outfit that was all set for world domination found themselves without a world to conquer, if not rendered to total refugee status as they huddled among a number of clingers to the ways of old on the ark that was Progressive International, the vehicle for a number of late era classics such as NWOBHM outfit Girlschool's 1992 eponymous swansong and the lone offerings of fellow Mid-West thrashers Dementia and California death/thrashers Silent Scream.

The resulting collection of songs that emerged from this last ditch effort to cling to mainstream relevance without going too far down the bizarre road of 90s genre experimentation dubbed Building Errors In The Machine is a good one, albeit one that is also marked by the conditions of its time. With minimal resources and distribution possibilities still availed to any outfit that hadn't full drunk the Vulgar Display Of Power or Dirt Kool-Aid, the resulting production borderlines on paper-thin, particularly in the drum department, which is likely an intentional device meant to emulate the then massively popular practice of minimal post-production that was rampant in the alternative rock scene at the time. Similarly, newly recruited vocal amateur Marco Salinas is all but a dead-ringer for the textbook gruff approach that James Hetfield and Chuck Billy had made a staple of the emergent half-thrash sound on Metallica's eponymous fifth LP and The Ritual respectively. All of these elements, however, are ancillary in the overall scheme of this album's presentation and act with near complete deference to the mighty riff work of Greg Fulton and a collectively strong execution by each other musician in congress. In shot, this listens like a 1990 version of thrash metal in a 1993 package, having more in common musically with I Hate Therefore I Am than the contemporary output of Sacred Reich, Megadeth, and anyone else still managing some degree of relevance on MTV.

Though the overall presentation here is on the bare bones side and tends to shy away from the overt melodic trappings that Fulton and company brought to the table in spades on their debut LP, no expense is spared in the impact department. Whether it be the roaring, gallop-happy speed and bluster of the opening number "Hate Makes Hate" or the near equal fury demonstrated on the slightly simpler "Down The Drain" or the mildly comical yet biting riff extravaganza "Drug Of The Masses" (one listen to that soulful bit of preaching sampled at the end by pastor Cleofus Nicodemus Johnson will leave anybody in stitches), the format at work here has more of a Bay Area heyday vibe to it rather than a modern half-thrash dud. Further upping the speed ante while also bringing in some nice atmospheric touches with some tasteful clean guitar additives, "Killing The Floor" ends up stealing the show and listens the closest to a holdover from the 1991 debut despite being a bit under-produced. Even the somewhat slower and groovier "Me, Myself & I" comes off as fun and catchy, almost like a poor man's "Toxic Waltz" that manages to close out with Fulton rocking the most climactic nod to Kirk Hammett's soloing style heard in 1993. The only real dud out of the bunch is the bonus song "The Law Of Relativity", which is mostly decent in the musical department barring those awkward funky, bass-driven verse segments, but features some really cringe-inducing rapped parts that sort of predict's the abortion that was Machine Head's The Burning Red.

There is a temptation to view this more as a delayed expression of where thrash was in 1991 that is comparable to a number of late entries circa 1992-1994 that came out of Europe and Australia such as Fallen Angel's Faith Fails and Allegiance's D.e.s.t.i.t.u.t.i.o.n, but for what it's worth, this was one of the last genuine thrash metal efforts to come out of the U.S. that wasn't watered down or slowed down to the point of being a shell of its former self. Regardless of how successful it was in light of the insurmountable tsunami of musical suck that had washed over the landscape, on its musical merits it can stand toe to toe with a number of unquestionable classics from the early 90s, including but not limited to Overkill's Horrorscope and Heathen's Victims Of Deception, though the presence of this EP's bonus song does drag it down a tad even if treated as a comical novelty song. Whether one listens to it for the historical relevance that it carries, or just to send a tall middle-finger to the recording industry and the barrage of inferior musicians that they passed off as "the new thing", there is a good thrashing in store for anybody that doesn't mind a production that is almost as thin as ...And Justice For All, yet loaded up with enough rapid-fire riffing to trade blows with The New Order. Thrash in good health, and raise a glass to our fallen comrades, may the current generation learn more of their exploits.

After the fine 1991 debut album 'I Hate Therefore I Am', Chicago's Cyclone Temple lost their vocalist Brian Troch, who sounded like a streetwise half-brother of John Bush (Armored Saint, ex-Anthrax). In came Marco Salinas, who was a bit more remote kindred to grungey James Hetfield.

And the music then? Well, it is similar to the debut's US thrash metal with shredding riffage in vein of Metallica and moshing action of Anthrax. The base of the music is thrash metal. There are some catchy elements, usually the choruses, in the songs. Rarely on this EP the guitarist/songwriter Greg Fulton shows his emblematic melody work. Too rarely, if you ask me. At times, the band enter harcore vibes and groovier trundle, at times they even touch rock territories. The CD bonus track includes some rapping (who the fuck raps and sings on it, I don't know, at least not Ice-fucking-T) mixed with thrashy stuff, so it is restricted territory! To tell the truth, the song itself isn't that bad. You can shoot me now.

However, this time around the production is very thin, cutting the balls of the band right away. Damn shame... Only the kick drums, umm... Kick. Well, the drummer John Slattery really keeps up the pace if needed. The guitar sounds feeble, but thankfully the bass, played by Scott Schafer, does at least a bit what a bass should do. Mind you, the instruments are well played, but are very, very unevenly balanced in the mix, making this sound like a quickly cobbled demo. The semi-melodic vocals lack of force, being at times totally powerless, slackening into obscurity. And the backing gang choir is pretty quiet, too. Anyways, the band sound energetic, firing with all they got, and the vocalist is down with the spirit, too.

The most severe building error here is that they didn't manage to bring forth the band's power, thanks to the shitty engineering job in the studio. The vocalist is another fracturing part, even though all the effort and characteristic style of Mr. Salinas. And simply, the music isn't as good as on the debut album. All this material can be found on the band's last album 'My Friend Lonely' (1994), all newly recorded with different vocalist. Might work, but sadly I haven't heard it.

(originally reviewed for ArchaicMetallurgy.com in 2009)

Cyclone Temple's debut I Hate Therefore I Am actually received a reasonable level of critical acclaim, which is unfortunate since it rather sucked, but obviously things were not going so well within the band's own camp. Relativity was snapped up by Sony, and in the process they dumped the Combat records artists, so this Chicago band was just one of the many victims to society's shift out of thrash metal and into the bleak 90s realm of grunge and alternative rock like Pearl Jam and Nirvana. So this EP was issued through another label. Also, vocalist Troch took a walk after the full-length, and the band brought in Sonny De Lucia to replace him.

Normally I'd be excited when a singer I didn't care for took his exit papers, but De Lucia is hardly much better. He essentially tries to perform a mix of Chuck Billy and James Hetfield, and tries a little too hard, sounding constipated through a large chunk of this EP. The riffs for most of Building Errors in the Machine are pure thrash, so in a sense the band might have thought to return to the (sadly unheralded) glory days of Act of God, the final album from their previous band Znöwhite. It's not much cause for excitement though, because though they are played in a similar style to Greg Fulton's previous albums, they seem a little crisper and deliver far less impact. More importantly, they're just not very catchy...at all.

"Hate Makes Hate" opens with a generic, rolling chug similar and then a generic descending chord pattern that we'd all heard a thousand times in various metal songs. The groovy verse rhythm is complete crap, and de Lucia sounds like Hetfield trying to get down like James Brown. "Me, Myself & I" earns no points for its cliche title, nor for the incredibly average riffs and Chuck Billy-like vocals over the verse thrust. "Down the Drain" showed a little potential. In a different time and place, these riffs might have worked with better tone, and I kind of liked the melody in the chorus. "Killing Floor" just sounds like the band took an S.O.D. or Anthrax mosh tune and ramped it up a little, with Hetfield vocals, and "Drug of the Masses" is a huge embarrassment, as the band have basically stolen the amazing breakdown riff from Metallica's "Damage, Inc." and tried to incorporate it as the main verse rhythm in this song.

But what's worse is "The Law of Relativity", where the band decided to flex a little of the Chicago inner city muscle and incorporate some rap alongside the normal thrashing. Now, I don't have an innate opposition to rap/metal or rap/rock. If it was performed well, I'd be accepting of it, and I once even dabbled in this area myself. This track only uses the rap-like vocals in the verse, and then switches to a funk-vocal briefly before the abortion of an emotional climax, but it's enough to make for the ultimate, depressing end to a weak release. The half-decent riffing storm that erupts near the close of the song comes far too late. Why wouldn't you put this up front? The end itself is the singer lamely shouting something like 'mastahbatin', ejaculatin' big fat zero'. Are you boys for real? This sounds like a band that have consigned themselves to death.

I was really hoping, what with the new singer, that Cyclone Temple had made some proper adjustments to the formula from I Hate Therefore I Am, and that I'd be hearing more of what I loved so much in their previous band. This material was clearly not going to help turn the tide of the ever-changing musical landscape of the 90s, and probably was not worthy of release in any capacity. What's worse, they will actually re-record these tracks for the second album...

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com